Irish voters to back EU treaty - poll

Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny addresses a news conference at the end of a European Union leaders summit in Brussels March 2, 2012.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish voters would vote strongly in favour of the referendum on Europe's treaty to tighten budget rules, the first opinion poll since the referendum was announced showed on Saturday.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny surprised parliament on Tuesday by calling a referendum, Ireland's fifth on Europe in 11 years, on the new fiscal treaty.

Forty four percent of the 1,000 people questioned in the Sunday Business Post/Red C poll said they would vote in favour of the treaty, with 29 percent opposed.

Just over a quarter of voters say they are undecided.

Irish citizens, who are entitled to vote on any major transfers of powers to Brussels, are seen as one of the biggest obstacles to overhauling the bloc. They have twice rejected changes to EU treaties before voting through amended versions.

EU officials agreed to the new treaty in December, aiming to push ahead with deeper economic integration and tackle the euro zone debt crisis.

A poll from January in the same newspaper suggested the treaty would narrowly pass with 40 percent of those questioned saying they would vote 'yes'. Another 36 percent opposed the treaty, while a quarter of voters were undecided.

(Reporting by Lorraine Turner; Editing by Janet Lawrence)